doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com RBL for sporting clays

I am looking for any experiences (good or bad) relative to the 12 gauge RBL for sporting clays. I had posted earlier and several people replied but I was curious if there are any others with experience. I am planning to buy one (30" barrels, single trigger, pistol grip configuration) for sporting clays sxs events but am looking for any additional info. As always, any input would be appreciated.
Thanks
Z

Get the beavertail for sure. Consider 32" barrels also.
JR

If you car coming to the Vintage Cup in September at pintail point, they [CSMC] will have some samples available.

Unless there is a special class for RBL's, I dunno why it would be any different than any other shotgun. Configuration is personal choice.........If you really want to get confused, try and follow the thread on Beavertail vs Splinter forends.

I just received my RBL that I ordered primarily for sporting clays. I have a number of older SxS's that I normally shoot along with a couple of newer Merkel's. But I wanted to give my older stuff a break from sporting clays and while I love the Merkel's they are a bit on the light side even using 7/8 oz. loads. My RBL is 32", splinter and straight stock with double triggers. It's a bit heavier at 8 lbs, 6 oz. than I hoped but it works well at sporting clays. Robert Krull

I received my RBL-12. It has 32", BTFE, PG, VR, and DT. Yup, I just like double triggers! The weight is 9 pounds 3 ounces. It's heavy but swings nicely. If I could reorder this gun I'd forget the vent rib. It does little good in my opinion. Others may think differently.

One note: The triggers are both exactly the same weight with very little creep! They break cleaner than most the match .45's and M-14's which I shot a couple decades ago.

Mark, I shot my RBL 12 ga last Sunday. It is a heavy gun, too, just under 9 pounds, with no vent rib and SST. I enjoyed it immensley with it chewing up old high pressure shells that I do not use in the older vintage doubles.

MarkQue, If you could would you post some pictures of the RBL ventilated rib? Is the top flat and matted or concave? The pictures on the website showing the ventilated rib suck. I plan on ordering one in the same configuration as you did but was leaning towrd the concave rib.

The Ithica NID 4E below sounds very much like the handling dynamics of some of the RBL's above. It works well for me. Anyone going to have such a gun at the VC? I'd love to measure it.

Ithaca NID 4E BLE Trap #457465 SST w/ CSMC 1 1/2"pad + 5/8" spacer: Weight = 9# 2 oz, balance = 5 1/2" to trigger, unmounted swing effort = 2.95, mounted swing effort = 11.73, half weight radius = 12.24, guage = 12, bbl length = 32", LOP = 15 5/8"

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of another tour through the CSMC facility and all I can say is WOW! They are really gearing up for some great stuff. The RBL's lined the walls in the gunroom. I got to see how the RBL's are made and was also surprised of all the hand fitting that is involved with them. Every part of the gun is made in house. I watched barrels being made from a solid rods of steel in one machine and also how the parts are cut from a plate of steel with laser machines. The laser engraving machines were also really cool to observe as were the stock cutters and checkering machines. There were many new CNC machines in the shop since my last visit. They also looked like they doubled their workforce. There must have been around 40 guys working on the guns. They are also building a new gun room that will really be impressive. CSMC must be doing pretty well in this economy in order to keep expanding like that. If anyone is ever near their facility, you owe it to yourself to visit. They are extremely accomodating and gracious hosts. Oh, and I also got to see the progress of my Model 21. The wood was spectacular and it was all ready to go to the engraver. It was neat to view pics of engraving that I would like for my gun. Stay tuned.